The Fox's Son
by Pirate Elf Kastel
Summary: Kyuubi, tired of the dispute's with the humans in Konohagakure, takes his 17 yr old son as mediator between himself and the people hoping to achieve peace. The people don't want to accept them, but Naruto is more human then they think.
1. Prolouge: The past

**Prologue; _The past_**

Hidden somewhere in the leaves of the Fire country is the village of Konohagakure. The village was known to the other villages as the strongest shinobi village. The ninja were trained to be fast, strong, stealthy, and to teach others what they knew. The Fourth Hokage, the Yondaime,was the best example of such. Not only was he the strongest in the village-and probably of all Hokages before-but he was a teacher, and an apprentice. His shinobi master was Jiraiya the toad senin, one of the three great senin taught by the Third Hokage.

The Yondaime was the youngest to ever be chosen as Hokage, but he held a lot of power, and not just as a shinobi, but as a man running a village. He was also a peaceful man and could always find a diplomatic solution when faced with war. It wasbecause ofhim that most of the hidden villages were at peace with Konohagakure, and had long lasting treaties.

Both the villagers and the ninja of the hidden leaf were proud to call him their leader. But none were more proud then his young wife. Saiyuri was a beautiful woman who had known him since the academy. She had known of his dreams, like his most important one to become Hokage, and wished he could fulfill them one day, but never once did she tell him as she became extremelyshy in his presence. But the Fourth had noticed herencouraging him from afar, and when his dreams started coming true he took her aside and told her, "I owe it all to, Saiyuri. If you hadn't been cheering me on all this time I never would have made it so far."

Saiyuri had never dreamed that he would notice her, or that her support would have meant so much to him. That had been the start of their long relationship. The two had loved each other with all their hearts that they married just before the village named him Hokage.

As said before, the village hidden in the leaves had treaties with most shinobi villages, except the village hidden in the rain. Constant war had broken out between the two villages for decades. They refused peace with even the Fourth Hokage. Over the years the rain had learned direct attacks on the Leaf never went in their favor.

As a result, during the time of the Fourth a group of four had been sent to infiltrate the Leaf, and then assassinate the Yondaime. Unfortunately for them, the Hokage had left to go to the village hidden in the sand for diplomatic reasons. As a back up plan they had taken his heavily pregnant wife, leaving a single peace of paper with the symbol for the Rain.

The Yondaime was informed instantly and he took off for the Rain immediately. A great battle ensued because the village refused to hand over Saiyuri. The young Hokage easily overpowered the shinobi but was killedin trickery. One of the rain shinobi told him that Saiyuri had died along with her childgiving birth, upon arriving to the village. The devastating loss had distracted him, and another shinobi had killed him from behind.

The Yondaime's apprentice, Hatake Kakashi the copy nin, had been with him from the moment he left Konohagakure and had witnessed his unjust death. The young ninja killed the assailants and returned the Hokage's body to his village, along with the news of Saiyuri's death as well.

The village received the news with great despair and mourned the loss of their Hokage and his wife. Although the death of the greatest Hokage was colossal, another had to be chosen. Tsunade, the snail senin and former team mate to Jiraiya was the perfect candidate. Although she was an older woman, the senin looked no older then twenty because of her profession as a medical ninja. The village elders all agreed that Tsunade was to become the Godaime. And with the medic nin in charge, war with the rain was avoided, but any former pleasantries shared were forgone.

The village had been led to believe the Uzumaki clan-the clan of the fourth-had ended with the death of Saiyuri and her unbornchild. But this was not the truth, and only one living being knew the truth.

On the night of Saiyuri's kidnapping the rain shinobi had fled into the surrounding forest. Unlike the natives however, these ninja did not know that the forest was called the Fox Tail because of its inhabitant. Imagine their surprise upon reaching the center of Fox Tail a day into the forest only to find the Kyuubi, the nine tailed kitsune and strongest of all demons. The large fox was furious at the intrusion on his land and slaughtered all four ninja.

But when it turned onto the other intruder, the woman, it lost its anger. He found her lying on the ground screaming out in pain. She had been nearly nine months pregnant and the stress from everything had forced her into labor.

Kyuubi had always been known as the _Merciless One_. He was quickand vicious, never leaving survivors after a battle. But this did not mean he didn't value life, in fact he was in complete adulation of it. To him life was fragile and precious. It was only those who deserved it, that felt the wrath he was known for. The woman before him was rich with the life ofthe new born child coming to the world.

So Kyuubi, in a moment of compassion, took a much smaller form not many were familiar with. A handsome young man with red hair appeared in his place, and the demon helped Saiyuri give birth to a boy. Life however would not continue as the young mother was dieing.

In those few moments before her end she reached for her son and held him close to her heart. Her last breath was used tospeak her child's name. "My sweet little Naruto."

She slipped away from life handing the great demon her young Naruto. The kitsune accepted the child, and wrapped him in a cloth his mother had been wearing. It bore the symbol of the Uzumaki clan telling the demon this was the son of the great Hokage. After giving the woman a rightful send off to the afterlife, but not before gently taking the necklace placed around her neck, he set out for Konohagakure with the child.

He had arrived too late. News had spread of the mother and child's death along with the body of the Yondaime awaiting the ceremony in a shrine. Kyuubi stood alone in the shrine before the late Hokage holding the son he had never gotten the chance to see. He paid his respects to one of the few men that held his respect, and said a prayer before he left the village with the child as silently as he had come. His own words kept echoing inside the fox's mind.

"You have dedicated your life to finding peace, peace between yourselves and with demons, yet despite that you've made many enemies. Your son can do no better then to have the protection of a demon. I will protect him as if he were my own son. We will find that peace for you, Naruto and I."

This is the story of finding that peace in Konohagakure. This is the story of the Fourth Hokage's child. Uzumaki Naruto, the fox's son.

**Was it good?**

**Bad? **

**Just plain ugly? **

**I NEED TO KNOW! (desperately crying for reviews)**

**Or Ye Walk The Plank!**

**And please tell me how to spell these damn words. Also, does the 4th have a name? If he does someone please tell me. **

**_-Kastel_**


	2. Into the Leaf

**UUUUUUUGH! A SPIDER JUST CRAWLED INTO THE KITCHEN! MOMMY KILL IT! IT'S HUGE! OMG! OMG! SHE SQUISHED IT AND BABIES WENT CRAWLING EVERYWHERE! KILL'EM! KILL'EM!**

**Ok their dead. Ugh. I hate spiders. I'm not a very brave pirate am I? Oh well. I'm good now. Spider free. Sooooo.**

**You reviewers, I love you people. Eye-patches for all! I'll give you peg legs if you'll squish my next spider. _(tries to sound convincing)_**

**I'm so sorry for taking so long. I got stuck. **

**And thank you to those that answered my question. Also. Really People! I don't know how to spell these ninja words. I go one place it's spelled one way, another it's spelt another, etc. etc. Help me out here. Sheesh! Ok, I'm shutting up so read and enjoy.**

**Disclaimed. Deal with it.**

**Into The Leaf**

The day was bright and sunny in the village hidden in the leaves. The people were going about their daily business and doing chores. And like everyday there were numerous amounts of visitors from other villages. Some were there to trade while others were there to shop in the stores their own homes didn't have. Still others came to the great village to place mission requests for the ninja. There were two in the crowd, however, that didn't want any of that. These two were here on a mission themselves.

These two men were headed to the center of the large village passing many people and many shops without as much as a glance. That is until the younger of the two smelt some delicious aroma, causing his stomach to grumble in response. The older one glared at his younger companion in annoyance.

Laughing nervously he defended himself quickly. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." The other growled in response.

Frowning he shot back a retort. "Well, I wouldn't be hungry now if you had just let me have breakfast earlier. And don't say we didn't have time. We have all day for this."

His older companion just rolled his red eyes and gestured for him to do as he wished. Excitedly the younger one hurried over to the mouth-watering smell, with his ruby eyed friend following close behind. They shortly arrived to a shop called the Ichiraku. Upon taking their seats they were greeted happily by a pretty woman behind the counter.

"Hello and welcome the Ichiraku. What can I get you?"

"Whatever it is that smells really good." The younger one was very eager to try it.

She giggled. "That would be my father's ramen. Would you like beef, miso, shrimp, pork, or chicken?"

His mouth was practically watering now. "Beef sound great!" Pointing to his silent companion, "He'll have the same." As the woman turned to place the orders to the man who she revealed as her father, the older customer gave the younger an irritated look. He in turn gave him a smug one that said _As if you'd have ordered something else._ After a few moments two steaming hot bowls of beef ramen were placed in front of the two men.

Now his mouth really was watering. And then, just as he was about to take his first bite, "This hardly looks healthy."

"Oh for-" The younger one was hungry, and desperately wanted to shut the others mouth. "Dad! Quit complaining and just try it. It's got meat, you should be happy with that." The older one glared at his son, but unsnapped his chopsticks and took a mouthful. His son looked at him expectantly, and got an approving nod. In a silent whoop he began eating, and then after realizing just how good it really was, began devouring his own bowl. When he finished he ordered another.

The young man was already on his seventh bowl when his father had finished with two bowls total. Behind the counter both the cook and the waitress watched him shovel the noodles down his throat with wide eyes. The cook started laughing after another moment.

"Your son seems to like my food." He looked distant for a brief moment, like he remembered something.

"Yes." Even he watched him eat like an animal in amazement. "His stomach has always been an empty void, but I've never seen him eat anything with such vigor before." _Perhaps it's in his genes?_

The cook, and owner of the Ichiraku, smiled at the boy, who he saw had uncontrollable blond hair and three scars on each side of his face, with a far-off look. The man looked familiar to him. "I haven't seen anyone with that kind of appetite in a long time." Shaking off his remote gaze he asked his new customers a standard question. "So what brings you to Konoha?"

The father, who he observed had wild-although not like the boys-orange hair, wasn't very social and kept his answers short. "We have business with the Hokage."

The owner was serving the tenth bowl to the young man. "Oh. Have you ever met her before?" He was answered with a shake of the head. "Well, here's a word of advice. She's got a bit of a temper and strength to make a man green with envy, try not to get her too upset or she'll get a little violent. Heard she hit a Kage from one of the other hidden villages once while in a peace negotiation." He gave a chuckle.

With a knowing smirk the foreigner replied, "I'll keep that in mind." After twelve bowls of ramen the blond finally said he was done and that they could head on their way, much to his fathers relief. The growing bill had begun to worry him. As they turned away the old man caught a glimpse of two strange symbols on their backs. The father had nine red fox tails reaching outwards forming a circle, and his son had a similar symbol, but it only bore three tails. Dismissing the strange things he called out before they got far that they could stop by any time they liked.

It had taken ten minutes to reach the center of the village where the Hokage tower was located. As they neared the entrance, two shinobi guarding the doors asked them their business in the tower. His father's simple, and rude, reply was that they needed to speak with the Hokage immediately. The ninja, chunnin he believed, responded just as rudely that she was in a meeting two prominent clans of the village. He began to tense as his father was losing his patience. The Hokage was known for her temper and violence, but so was his father.

"Well then, she's just going to have to reschedule." The orange haired man said this with a wicked smile that showed off his sharp teeth and narrowed eyes.

The chunin took this as a threat, getting themselves into defensive positions. The ruby eyed man was only happy to comply, if his son had not grabbed his arm in an iron grip. "Starting fights won't help us." He said in a low breath. Reluctantly he backed down, but kept his eyes on the ninja.

Before either party could do anything more, a new and stern voice spoke up from behind. "Is there something wrong here?"

Both father and son looked to the newcomer silently observing her. She wore a simple black kimono lined in white with an equally white obi. Underneath the kimono just a small glimpse of her fishnet shirt could be seen. Chestnut eyes stared frigidly at them from under bangs of black hair that framed her face.

The red eyed man looked annoyed. "Are you the Hokage?"

"No." Brown eyes stared into narrowed red ones.

"Then we have a problem," He trailed off waiting for her to answer his unspoken question.

"Shizune."

Both foreigners recognized her name. "Shizune then." The older of which turned to completely face her as he continued to speak. "Perhaps you can fix this problem by bringing us to the Godaime. You're her assistant are you not?" He spoke this as if it were an accusation and not a question.

His tone seemed to be grating on her nerves as she narrowed her own eyes. "That may be, but as I'm sure these chunnin have already told you she's in a meeting and can not be bothered."

"Yes." His ruby eyes narrowed further as he took a step toward her with a smile. "And I'm very impatient." Another step. "I want to see her." Another step and a larger, vicious smile. "Now." Finally he was less then a foot away, towering over her with his imposing height. His glowing eyes seemed to set her off. There was something about this one that scared her. But she'll be damned if she let him know that.

During this exchange his son had stepped between them and the other ninja who were ready to defend Shizune. He wanted to keep violence from breaking out, and knowing his father he needed to intervene quickly.

"He means," Here he looked harshly at his father. "Could you at least inform her of our presence?" He bowed apologetically. "If it's not too much trouble." His bright blue eyes looked at her expectantly.

Shizune in turn glanced between them. It was obvious the blond wanted to avoid any fights. In contrast his companion seemed to like provoking them. She on the other hand agreed with the blond. It seemed as though if they were told to wait, or even leave, the orange haired one would become aggressive, and show them why he seemed to producing a disturbing aura. However, if she agreed and notified the Godaime of their request she would become angry herself.

Weighing the pros and cons, she decided it would be safer to tell the Hokage. Shizune had dealt with her temper before and could easily handle it. But considering the deadly look of the older man, she realized she had no idea what these strangers could do, and was not prepared to find out why the ruby eyed one seemed to set her on edge more then he should.

"I'll tell her." A relieved smile graced the younger ones face as the same annoying smirk remained on the older. "But I can give you no promises." With that said she entered the tower leaving them alone with the chunnins as fast as she could walk.

The young looking blond had been sitting at her desk for nearly three hours now. Three boring hours of listening to men who had never been the type to socialize. She had thought that because these men never spoke much to begin with that it would be easy to get this over with. She had never been more wrong.

The two greatest clans of Konohagakure had never gotten along. Both, in her opinion that is, were stuck up, conceded, way to overly confident, and thought that they were royalty if how they treated others was any consideration. And it did not help that both claimed to have the superior blood limit to the other. So after generations of not so friendly rivalries the Hokage demanded that they let her interfere and end it when two of the younger jounins had gotten into a "disagreement". It was a long shot and she knew it, but it was still much easier said then done.

At first, the only time any of the four spoke was when she directly asked them to, and even then the response was as short as possible. That alone took thirty minutes out of her morning. Then that had resulted in a slow process of discovering the current problem-and the exact reasons for the latest incident-taking an hour. Then after a particular offensive comment it had started to move even slower because of the verbal clash that ensued. And that's where the other ninety minutes had gone to. An hour and a half of her precious time wasted listening to insult after insult.

If something didn't happen soon she would hit them herself instead of waiting for them to start another fight.

A brief knock on the large doors to her office came as that blessing she had been praying for just before Shizune entered the room. This caused a sigh of relief to leave her throat. Her good friend Shizune. Tsunade narrowed her eyes. Shizune, whom had been specifically told not to enter her office until the Hyuuga's and the Uchiha's had left.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Uchiha-sama's, Hyuuga-sama's, Hokage-sama," She bowed to each person in the room before walking to the Godaime's side. "But there are to men outside who are requesting your presence immediately, despite our warnings of your meeting. One of them is no short of demanding it." Her tone of voice told them that this _demand_ wasn't very friendly.

As lovely as that distraction sounded, Tsunade couldn't just leave this meeting with the clans for two strangers, it would insult them. And she really needed to settle this. "I'm a little busy. Their going to wait whether they want to or not." She said rather reluctantly.

She had just put her attention back on the dark haired men when Shizune responded urgently. "I believe it would be in all our interests if you were to see them Tsunade-sama" The intense gaze she was giving the Hokage said that this was serious. Her eyes told the village leader that whatever the strangers had in stored if they were forced to wait was not going to be pretty.

Quickly making her decision she turned to the clan leaders. "I'm sorry Itachi-san, Hiashi-san, but it seems there is something else that requires my attention." Her voice was polite. "We're going to have to reschedule this until another time. If you don't mind, I'd like to walk you out myself?"

"Of course Hokage-sama." The oldest of the men, Hiashi Hyuuga, responded simply. A small nod was all the answer she received from the youngest Uchiha leader. If she were to give these clans any credit, it would be for them to remain so stoic no matter the circumstances. Even in the midst's of three hour long arguments.

As Tsunade stepped around her desk Shizune hurried to the doors to lead them out. The Godaime followed after her making sure she placed herself between the clan leaders as to stop anything nasty before it happened. Just behind them walked the two boys that had started the recent troubles between the families. Sasuke was behind his older brother, keeping a sufficient distance between himself and Neji, who was behind his uncle. Like the rest of the two families, these two didn't get along at all.

For quite a while the six had walked in silence as the medic nin led them to the exit. Sasuke and Neji would look coldly at each other from time to time. Itachi, Hiashi, and Tsunade were impassive and only looked ahead of them. But Shizune was nervous, and it was noticeable.

"They must be something." The young Uchiha leader's remark startled everyone from the silence. "The men outside," He clarified in his passive voice. "They must certainly be something to get your assistant so anxious." His black eyes were on the said medic nin's back as he talked.

She looked back at the man for a moment. "Yes. But I'm worried about one then the other." And she kept it as simple as that. The silence then returned for the rest of the walk.

As the small group turned the corner to reveal the entrance to the tower the chuunin's were already opening the large doors, resulting in blinding sunlight to stream into the hallway. Taking a moment to adjust to the hues around them it did not take long for the shinobi to spot the strangers. Tsunade bid her guests a farewell and made her way to the two men. One stood facing the tower and waited as she approached.

This one wore a dark orange pare of pants, with a kunai holster on the right leg. These were tapped to his lower shins with black bindings into his sandals. His shirt was long sleeved and baggy revealing none of his form beneath, and white. It was something about his jacket however, that caught her attention. It was open, held together by a gold chain under the high collar. It, although short sleeved revealing the white shirt underneath, was long enough to reach to his knees. From what she could see, it was black except for the red flames at the bottom. The whole outfit, although the jacket really struck a cord, screamed _Familiar_. It was lost on her of whom, but he reminded her of someone.

Tsunade then looked to his companion and immediately understood Shizune's discomfort. His face couldn't be seen clearly as it was turned down, but the wild orange hair and dark demeanor said dangerous. He stood leaning against a tree, arms crossed over a bare chest revealed underneath a jacket of a similar length, if only a little shorter, as the others. The black fabric was accented with deep red trimmings along the edges and long sleeves. The black leggings matched with a red waist. Once the pants reached the knees they were tapered just bellow with red binding where it was covered with black ninja sandals at the feet.

The Hokage greeted the two men with a bow of her head, and in return, two sky blue eyes left her gaze in his own proper bow. As his head raised back up she noticed the six scratches on his cheeks that resembled whiskers.

"I am the Godaime, Tsunade. You wanted to see me?" Her voice snapped the other one from his thoughts as he picked up his head from its downward position and opened his eyes showing her frosty red irises.

"Yes." His voice was cold but strong. "My son and I would like to join Konoha as ninja."

The request threw everyone off guard. The chuunin looked incredulous. The clan representatives that had yet to leave looked intrigued. Shizune was more then a little startled, and Tsunade herself seemed a bit shocked. They all had the same thought.

_All this fuss for that?_

He responded as if reading their minds. "We have lived in almost complete solitude from others. I thought it was time Naruto met people his own . . . age," The man looked to his son as if he had wanted to say something else entirely, but hid it beneath a smirk. "And with similar . . . interests and abilities." He emphasized his words with hand gestures. "I have taught him how to do many things, but mostly how to fight very well. He enjoys learning new techniques. I thought becoming a ninja was the appropriate choice."

Looking at the father Tsunade wasn't sure if his words to be trusted. Looking at his son, whose face held no emotion, but his eyes full of excitement, she could see some truth. "And why should I even consider giving you hitae ite? (**is that what their called?**) What makes you special?"

His deep voice began to laugh richly. He laughed at her. The man had the gal to laugh her, the great Hokage. She did **not** like him. "You will find that when we choose a side, there are no souls more loyal then our own." His smile took on a sadistic gleam. "As for what makes us special? Well, you could say we're . . . Unique."

Not liking his answer, she scowled. "Whether I accept you or not, I'd prefer to discuss this inside. And I refuse to let you in without learning your names first." Gesturing to the one whom she assumed was Naruto, "You've made his quite clear, but seemed to have left out your own." She seemed a little proud of herself. He wasn't giving them everything, and she wanted to get at least something out of him.

Everyone present could see the look in the young mans eyes turn from hopeful to fearful. He glanced at his father nervously. He really wished the man would lie about this, as not to scare them into a panic. But from his large grin it looked like he was going to tell the truth.

The man dropped his voice to a deadly whisper. "Are you sure you want to know?" The Godaime confidently gave him a yes. He said one word. One word was all that was needed. That one word was enough to strike fear into them.

"Kyuubi."

Everyone reacted immediately, getting into fighting stances. Everyone that is, but the demon and his son. Kyuubi simply began laughing again. "You humans are so easy to provoke." He ignored Naruto's mumble of, _I wonder why,_ and tried to calm them down. "If I had honestly wanted to kill you I wouldn't have gone through all this nonsense, don't you think?"

His words made sense, and ever so cautiously the Hokage dropped out of her stance but kept on alert. The others, still distrustful, followed suite. The hazel eyed woman asked if his reasons for entering the village were true. His response was yes. Turning around and heading into the tower, she told the chuunin to let them in. Kyuubi and Naruto followed, with Shizune close behind. The Uchiha's and the Hyuuga's hurried to their respective homes to tell their clans of what had transpired. The chuunins would tell the two who came to change shifts with them. All of Konohagakure would know by nightfall.

Demons were in the village. Demons wanted to become _citizens_ of the village.

**Ok, if you can't figure out where I got Naruto's outfit from, there is no hope for you. If you don't know, I'm not telling.**

**I didn't actually give this to anyone to proof read, so if there are mistakes, I'm truly sorry. So please press that button on the left when you're done.**


	3. Note to the readers

**Ok, it's obviously been awhile since I posted. But schools been going on and I've had essays and projects that I really need to learn to stop doing last minute. Senior year is tough. And I haven't even applied to college yet. Do you know how stupid that is? Word to the wise don't procrastinate, apply early, and take your SAT's while you're still in a math class. I'm kinda scared to get my scores now.**

**As for the story . . . I'm working on it I swear! Just . . . slowly. I've got writers block. So far, Naruto and Kyuubi get their ninja ranks, and Naruto explains some things to Shikamaru. But that's it. It just seems so, what's the word, blah. Truth be told most of my idea's are for later, I'm just having trouble getting there. **

**Anyway, with Christmas break coming I should be writing some more. Oh, and before I forget I need some jutsu's and names that are common in the series. All I got is Kage Bunshin sadly. It's kinda hard to write action scenes if I can't recall what I want to use isn't it?**

**And I'm really sorry for getting all your hopes up for a new chapter, mostly 'cause I hate it when an author uses notes and now I've done it myself. So when I post I'll replace this.**

**-_Kastel_**


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